Sílvia Albareda Tiana, lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Education Sciences and director of the UIC Barcelona Sustainability Office, has led an interdepartmental project whose results have been reflected in the study entitled Enhancing Curriculum integration of the SDGs: fostering active methodologies through cross-departmental collaboration in a Spanish university, which has been published in the International Journal in Sustainability in High Education, a first-quartile journal.

The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of active teaching methodologies, specifically problem-oriented learning and case method, in developing sustainability skills. The research also wanted to analyse the advantages and challenges for teachers when implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in eight undergraduate degrees and a postgraduate degree from UIC Barcelona, within the framework of this interdepartmental collaboration.

Thanks to this research, “we have found that competencies in sustainability and SDGs can be worked on and developed through active teaching methodologies in any discipline and educational level and are, therefore, an opportunity for transformative education”, says Albareda. The research has been developed during two academic courses gracias to the Puig Foundation Teaching Innovation Grant. 

The researchers who participated in the study were Gabriel Fernández-Borsot and Josep M. Guardiola from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; Elisa Regadera from the Faculty of Communication Sciences; Marta Mas-Machuca and Alba Manresa from the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences; Mónica Fernández-Morilla, Mariona Graell, Andreu Gutiérrez-Sierra and M. Teresa Fuertes-Camacho from the Faculty of Education Sciences, together with Jasmina Berbegal-Mirabent from the Department of Management of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.